Now where were we?

There’s a trailside cafe & grocery 45 minutes by foot from my building. It’s called the Swamp Rabbit, riding the coattails of its raison d’etre, and it wears its sustainable, low carbon footprint, organic farming, locally produced, ethical treatment of animals food sourcing policies right out on its non-sweatshop-assembled sleeve. One feels good about spending money there, in other words, even if one does spend considerably more of it per edible pound than at just about any other market in our area.

Because the weather has been so oppressive, I didn’t walk today, but drove instead and spent a pleasant hour eating and reading and reacquainting myself with coffee, a beverage I’d eliminated from my diet back in February. That was in preparation for a spiritual retreat that left the magical mystery dock without me, so having endured the pangs of withdrawal to no end, I’d been consoling myself with herbal tea until this very day. But cheese rolls, peach parfait and Philip Marlowe of a sultry summer morn wanted bolder accompaniment, something more complex, smoky and nuanced. That’s what the sign said, anyway. Counter Culture Coffee Forty-Six, if you’re interested.

I’m also back on stage, and for a guy who’s never had a paternal bone in his body, there’s irony in how I’m being cast at this stage of life. Here’s the playbill bio to explain:

Tim Brosnan (Alfred P. Doolittle: My Fair Lady) last appeared in Greenville as Hero’s father, Leonato, in the Warehouse production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.  A perennial player of father figures, the list of Tim’s other stage children includes Desdemona (OTHELLO), Laertes (HAMLET), Luisa (THE FANTASTICKS), and George (OUR TOWN). His performance venues have run the gamut from rural branch libraries in New England to FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE (Hendersonville, NC), CHAFFIN’S BARN DINNER THEATRE (Nashville, TN), THEATRE IV (Richmond, VA), NORTHERN LIGHTS SUMMER PLAYHOUSE (Hazelhurst, WI), and STAGE ONE (Louisville, KY) where he originated the role of Alexandre Manette – Lucie’s father, of course – in Wendy Kesselman’s musical adaptation of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, directed by Moses Goldberg. Theme park fans might remember Tim as arch villain Silas Barnaby in DOLLYWOOD’S million dollar production of DOLLY’S BABES IN TOYLAND. Or not. He lives in Greenville with his Maine Coon life coach, ACADIA.

I should add that, immediately prior to the production at hand, I played James Wilson in “1776.” He was a founding father, you’ll recall. Another case in point.